Championship leader Jenson Button took his fourth pole position of the season after edging out Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by two-hundredths of a second in Monaco.
Button’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello lines up in third for Brawn GP ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull Racing and the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
As for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who was a dark horse contender for pole, the world champion will start in a disappointing 16th position after crashing in Q1.
The qualifying session didn’t start well for Massa, who lost control of his Ferrari under braking at the swimming pool complex. Fortunately, the Brazilian clipped the barrier with his front nose and was able to pit for a replacement.
Hamilton was not so lucky and after setting the fourth fastest time (one minute, 26. 264 seconds) he lost the rear of his McLaren under braking at Mirabeau. The left-rear tyre made heavy contact with the barrier, which damaged his suspension, and his session was over.
The red flag came out to allow the track marshals to recover the broken McLaren but both BMW Saubers and Toyotas were unable to improve and will start at the bottom end of the grid.
In session two, four drivers shared the honours of setting the quickest time around the Principality with Nico Rosberg initially, then Heikki Kovalainen followed by Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello.
The next driver to lose control on the tricky street circuit was Nelson Piquet Jr. The young Brazilian clipped the outer barrier exiting the swimming pool complex and as he approach the final corner – Anthony Noghes – he lost the back end of the Renault, possibly distracted by the car in front returning to the pits. Luckily his car was undamaged and Piquet was able to continue before team-mate Fernando Alonso arrived on the scene. Alonso reached the top ten, but once again Piquet failed to.
As for Jenson Button, the championship leader had a scare towards the end of Q2, falling down to eighth by the chequered flag. Kimi Raikkonen ended the session the fastest, with fellow countryman Kovalainen in second.
Both Force Indias were eliminated in this session with Giancarlo Fisichella having two of his best times disallowed after cutting the chicane. Despite this, Fishichella at least beat the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Bourdais with his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil in P15.
In the top-ten shootout, Sebastian Vettel set the benchmark for Red Bull Racing but it was really close, as Nico Rosberg and Rubens Barrichello were both within a tenth of a second away from the young German’s first effort.
Jenson Button was down in fourth position at this point and with Kimi Raikkonen setting a new provisional pole time of one minute, 14. 927 seconds in the resurgent Ferrari, the pressure was on the leading Brawn GP driver.
He responded magnificently with a beautiful, inch-perfect lap around the tight street circuit with a time of one minute, 14. 902 seconds. The margin between pair was only 0.025 seconds!
This pole position was crucial for Jenson Button as overtaking around the Principality is extremely difficult due to the tight and narrow nature of this racing circuit. If Jenson can translate this result with a fine race victory on Sunday, he is looking the favourite for the world championship.
As for Raikkonen, to qualify in second position was an impressive achievement especially when you consider Ferrari’s performance in the last couple of Grands Prix. With the KERS unit fitted to the Iceman’s car, Kimi could have an advantage off the starting grid… So watch out Jenson at Ste Dévote!
Rubens Barrichello lines up third for Brawn GP followed by Vettel, Massa and Rosberg – fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Heikki Kovalainen salvaged some McLaren pride with seventh place, ahead of Mark Webber in the second Red Bull Racing, Renault’s Fernando Alonso, and the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima (the latter making his first Q3 appearance of the year).
So the stage is set for the most glamorous race of the Formula One season. Can Jenson Button take another race victory on Sunday? Or will we see a Ferrari back on the top step with Kimi earning a long overdue win? We shall find out on race day.
Qualifying times from Monte Carlo:
1. Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:14.902
2. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:14.927
3. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:15.077
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:15.271
5. Massa Ferrari 1:15.437
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:15.455
7. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.516
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:15.653
9. Alonso Renault 1:16.009
10. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:17.344
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.833
12. Piquet Renault 1:15.837
13. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 1:16.146
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.281
15. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.545
16. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.264
17. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1:16.264
18. Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:16.405
19. Trulli Toyota 1:16.548
20. Glock Toyota 1:16.788
Lets hear what Jenson Button and team boss Ross Brawn had to say after another impressive performance in qualifying. Articles taken from Autosport.com.
Jenson Button admitted he was ‘chuffed to bits’ after snatching his fourth pole position of the season ahead of tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix.
The championship leader beat Ferrari rival Kimi Raikkonen with his now usual late effort, emerging just 0.025 seconds ahead of the Finn at the circuit where the top spot could be crucial for the race.
Brawn driver Button admitted the whole session had been very tight, and the Briton was delighted with his second pole in a row.
“It means a lot – they all do,” said Button. “Today was a really tight fight, all weekend I have been fighting with Rubens and he has definitely had the upper hand. McLaren has been up there, Ferrari up there, the Red Bulls, it has been a fun weekend.
“Qualifying was no different, it was manic, but great to come away with the pole – to snatch pole I am chuffed to bits.”
Button said the weekend had not started perfectly for him, but the British driver managed to recover to emerge as favourite for another victory.
“It might look like it (perfect) from the outside,” he said. “I was a long way off in P1 on Thursday and didn’t know where we were, but all weekend we have improved it a little bit, that is the great thing with this year’s car.”
Button, winner of four of the first five races of the year, said he is expecting a difficult race tomorrow.
“You enjoy the moment, but it is strange because it is a lot more stressful than you think. You want to stay in this position obviously. At this point of the season every time I need to score points.
“It is not going to be easy, it is difficult to overtake here, but for sure it is not going to be easy. The way things are going this season it is a fantastic feeling, so thanks again and hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow.”
Ross Brawn paid tribute to his driver Jenson Button after the world championship leader took his fourth pole position in six races at Monaco on Saturday.
Button waited until the dying seconds of the top ten shoot-out to depose Kimi Raikkonen from pole to record his first in Monaco and his seventh in total.
“I think he is getting into the habit of saving the best until last,” Brawn told the BBC. “He did it at the last race as well.”
Button had not looked like a contender for pole through qualifying and was only eight fastest in the low fuel runs of Q2.
And despite watching Raikkonen set his best time on his third lap with the super-soft tyres, the Englishman stuck to his strategy of going for pole on his second flyer.
“He was not completely happy [with the car],” said Brawn, “but little adjustments here and there with the car setting and he knew that was the lap that he had to produce and he is just driving exceptionally well at the moment.
“We were going for the second lap and we saw that Kimi in particular got a very good lap on the third lap, and I think [Nico] Rosberg. But of course in the last session, when you put fuel in you put a little bit of extra load, and extra heat, into the tyres, so we stayed with our two lap approach.”
Button’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello will line-up third on the grid behind Raikkonen, who recorded his best qualifying performance of the year.
What to know what happened to Lewis Hamilton? Read on for the details (taken from Autosport.com):
World champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted he has lost any chance of repeating his 2008 Monaco victory after crashing out of qualifying in Q1, following his most competitive showing of the year through practice.
The McLaren driver will line up 16th on the grid after losing control of his car at Mirabeau and damaging his left rear suspension in the process.
“My race weekend for a win is for sure over,” he told the BBC. “I just don’t know what I was thinking. I made a mistake. It had been going well all weekend.”
Hamilton had spent free practice right among the front-runners and ended Saturday morning practice just 0.225s slower than Fernando Alonso’s fastest time, and admitted he was gutted to have let down his team.
“I apologise to the team for wasting their time, and at least Heikki is doing well,” he said. “He is up there. I wish him all the best. Tomorrow I will do the best job I can to try and recover from it.
“It’s just been tough, but you learn from these mistakes and they are bound to happen. It’s unfortunate it happened in the first part of qualifying, but this is what makes you stronger.”
It’s going to be a difficult race for the world champion way down in P16. The best he can hope for is to stay away from the barriers and hope the other cars ahead suffer retirements so he can gain track positions. Overtaking is a real challenge and if McLaren are running an unusual pit strategy to leapfrog the cars ahead, then a top ten finish is not out of the question. What is a shame is that Lewis was looking really strong going into qualifying after setting some really quick times in all three practice sessions. To crash the MP4-24 in Q1 was a major disappointment and he has admitted it was his mistake. Hopefully he can turn this bad result into something good on Sunday.
Was good to see Hamilton crashing out, maybe that will prove to the Hamilton faithful that he isn’t the F1 messiah Everyone thinks he is.
Button just about got up there to be on pole, maybe the Brawn is being caught up by the other teams? Raikkonen grabbing second was a surprise, Ferrari didn’t seem to be improving that much. On the subject of Ferrari I don’t like how they’ve thrown the toys out of the pram with this whole budget cap business, and is it me or were McLaren a little bit too silent on this? Keeping their heads below the parapet me thinks.
I’ve gotten myself a new Blog incidentally, nothing really posted yet but with the Local and European elections coming up that will change. http://absurdcosmos.blogspot.com/